


Loved You Always

by Skylin3



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Love Confessions, Memories, Relationship Advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27942860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylin3/pseuds/Skylin3
Summary: A year has passed since Mitsuru last saw Akihiko. It was just before they ended their time in the TV World. Now that they have both grown as adults, Mitsuru has finally realized something... She's in love with Akihiko. The problem is, how does she tell him?
Relationships: Kirijo Mitsuru/Sanada Akihiko
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Loved You Always

**Author's Note:**

> New fic... in such a short amount of time?! Yeah believe it or not a new one is out and it's this one! Though to be fair this one has been finished for a few months now because it was originally for another project, but who's counting? I'm definitely not.
> 
> All I care about is delivering some wholesome content for Team Mom and Team Dad of the P3 crew haha. I had lots of fun writing this one, so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: 12/10/20 - Title change! Tbh the old title was very lacking and while this one might be more simple, I feel as though it represents the story better. Original title was "The Empress Loves The Emperor"

“Oh, come on, Mitsuru!” Yukari whined. “I know that smile when I see it. You like Akihiko don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you could possibly mean by that, Yukari,” Mitsuru deflected, feeling her face become rather hot at the brunette’s insinuation. “We’re just friends and it’s been that way for years now. I think it’s normal for me to smile a bit when I see him.”

It’s true that Mitsuru had seen Akihiko a short while ago when she was out shopping with Yukari at Paulownia Mall, but it had only been a brief encounter. They talked about various things, simple things like how life had been for them recently. Mitsuru was surprised to see how well put together Akihiko was all things considered. She worried that his world-traveling would end up getting him hurt though, even if it was on her behalf since he was a member of the Shadow Operatives. But in that moment, he basically proved to her otherwise. Akihiko had his own small apartment now and had even mentioned planning on finally settling down in port island to become a police officer.

Mitsuru knew about this, having seen how mature he had become when they found themselves in the TV world last year. It was only after seeing him again that she realized her feelings for him had grown. He was strong, smart, and most importantly considerate, especially when he always helped ground her whenever she doubted herself. 

Mitsuru thought back to the days when she had first approached him in middle school. Akihiko had just finished a boxing match and was swarmed by fangirl’s asking him for a date. She waited patiently for them to disperse before she approached him and explained to him what the dark hour was. She even ended up pointing an evoker at him almost immediately which sparked something in him from what she could tell.

From then on their relationship naturally grew, but she never imagined that her feelings for him would reach romantic status. It made her nervous when approaching him and she had been holding it in for well over a year now. Though Mitsuru knew from Yukari that Akihiko could be a bit oblivious, so if she had made any indications that she liked him, he probably had yet to notice.

“Well at least that gives me some time to think about how I’ll tell him…” she paused for a moment as she realized she had said it aloud. Mitsuru turned to her right only to see a wide teasing smile plastered on Yukari’s face.

“So you do like him!” Yukari burst out laughing.

Mitsuru’s face was beet red as she tried to change the subject only to fail spectacularly. “I said nothing of the sort! Maybe it would be wise if I just didn’t speak anymore,” she sighed.

“Oh relax, Mitsuru, I was just teasing you. Besides we’ve all known for quite a bit, I’m honestly more surprised that you two weren’t an item already.” Yukari flashed a knowing smile. “You two did spend the night together when the hotel we were staying at had no more rooms, after all.”

“We strictly slept on opposite sides of the bed!” Mitsuru defended much quicker than she would have liked. “I couldn’t just leave him outside, and it only happened because Iori wanted to bring Chidori with us!”

“Uh huh,” Yukari teased. “Well, whatever your reasons, it’s clear you like him, that much can’t be denied, so spill it, when did it happen?”

“Must I really do this?” Mitsuru groaned, trying to come up with any excuse. “Shadow Operatives might need us any minute now.” 

“Nice try, but you’re the leader, so anything new would be ordered by you,” Yukari gave a small pout, pretending to be disappointed. “Fine, I won’t push you further… I really did just want to help, you know.”

Mitsuru now felt guilty for shutting her friend off. True she had teased her the past few minutes, but Yukari was the only person she considered to have had any real experience. Junpei sort of just got lucky, so she really couldn’t ask him for help. And she hated leaving things unanswered for herself, so she knew if she didn’t at least try she would always be thinking of the what-ifs. 

Mitsuru relented, letting out a small sigh, “Fine, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you…”

“Really?! Great! I want to know everything… okay maybe not _everything_ , but just the romance really,” Yukari grinned widely.

 _“Those were crocodile tears… For someone so calculated, it looks like I’m lacking in some areas…”_ Mitsuru thought to herself. She let out another sigh before finally telling Yukari everything. “I suppose it started right around last year, when we had that incident with Narukami and his friends.”

“You mean Rise-chan’s boyfriend right? The other wild card user?” Yukari asked. 

“Yes, that’s the one,” Mitsuru said. “Right around then I had finally seen Akihiko after he had left for a year on his journey. He was doing shadow ops as well, but he had told me that it was a chance to discover himself. At the time, I didn’t think much of it and simply wished him safe travels…”

“But now that he’s back, it seems something in him changed that you like now?” Yukari tilted her head.

“I think it’s more like I was made aware of the type of man he is. Before, I saw him as a protein addict, but now that I look back on it, he’s always been there for me,” Mitsuru admitted, feeling her cheeks become a slight tinge of pink. “When father died he was the one who carried me back to the dorms. He stayed with me that night until I was finally able to sleep, and not once did he try to immediately make me feel better of my situation at the time, he just listened. And as you said, we always had a way of knowing what we thought about, whether it was for a mission, or for the simple times when we went on trips back then.”

“I’ve never heard you talk so passionately about someone, Mitsuru,” Yukari said, she was left quited stunned by her friend’s words. “The way you speak about him, it reminds me how I still feel about Minato, if I’m honest.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone on so long… I-”

“Nonsense,” Yukari shook her head. “If you think you made me feel bad, you didn’t. It’s just as much as I wanted to tease, I can’t help but smile seeing you express yourself that way.” She paused for a moment before looking at the ring on her finger. “What I said about Minato was my way of telling you that I think you found the one. It’s that sort of thing where they have always been in front of you, but you realize it way later in life.”

Mitsuru chuckled for a moment, “I suppose you’re right, Yukari. Though I do hope this side of me isn’t overbearing to you.”

“You’re my best friend Mitsuru, why would it bother me?” Yukari grinned playfully. “But now that it’s out there, what do you plan to do?”

“That was actually my next question, you see I don’t know what to do next.” Mitsuru was embarrassed to admit that fact to Yukari. “I-I was hoping that maybe you could help me? Since you had the real experience with Arisato.”

Yukari couldn’t help but laugh at that, of all people Mitsuru thought she was the most capable. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh,” she apologized. “It’s just that with Minato, I sorta just let things flow. Kinda like you I realized that he wasn’t some distant, snarky jerk. I found a rather quiet boy who was afraid of becoming too attached in the event that he might hurt someone,” Yukari said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “If you think about it was our circumstances that brought us close to each other. Though I soon realized that I did love him and just confessed to him out of the blue; I was scared out of mind, feeling that he might reject me… But he felt the same way in the end and we just sorta went from there.”

Yukari turned to look at her friend who seemed to have a look of confusion, but also happiness on her face.

“I’m sorry, this is about you,” Yukari waved her hand. “Basically, just go with the flow. Don’t try to control the situation and take it as it comes, who knows Akihiko might like you back,” she smiled warmly at Mitsuru.

“I appreciate the advice, but I’m not sure about him liking me back… he doesn’t seem to be the type to be interested in dating,” Mitsuru admitted shyly. “Look at me, I’ve lost all my composure because of him.”

Yukari gave her a frown and turned away. She began searching through her bag until she found her phone. She pulled the gold-pink device, unlocked the screen before hitting a few numbers on the dial pad. A moment later and the phone began to ring.

Mitsuru gave Yukari a curious look. “What are you doing?”

Yukari simply raised one finger, waiting patiently as the phone continued to ring. A moment later and the line had finally connected. 

Mitsuru instantly heard the voice and felt her face flare up. Yukari had really done it now, she had to get that phone away from her. When she tried to, however, Yukari was freely holding it in the air towards her. 

“Go ahead, he’s waiting,” she teased, wiggling the phone in front of her.

Mitsuru snatched the phone from her and was about to hang up, but she stopped herself. If she hung up now she’d just make him wary of her. Not to mention that she’d just end up thinking about the what-ifs again. She let out an audible gulp before bringing the phone closer to her ear.

“H-hello, Akihiko are you still there?” Mitsuru stuttered.

“Yeah, I’m still here, though Yukari mentioned something about you wanting to talk to me? If that’s the case you could’ve just called me,” Akihiko said flatly.

Mitsuru panicked. She tried to come up with a decent explanation as to why Yukari had suddenly put her on the spot like that. No matter how she tried to twist the story it all sounded ridiculous to her. She was Mitsuru Kirijo for crying out loud, she shouldn’t be having this much trouble. Now a part of her was glad she never found love during her teenage years… Regardless, she still needed an excuse, so she said the first thing that came to mind.

“M-my phone ran out of battery, t-that’s why Yukari let me use her phone!”

“Didn’t expect it’d happen to you, but I guess there’s a first for everything right?” Akihiko laughed. “Anyway, what did you need?”

Mitsuru looked at Yukari for help. The brunette simply mouthed the words “ask him out for dinner,” she would have protested, but at this point she didn’t have much of a choice.

“A-are you busy tonight? I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me for dinner at the estate,” she finally asked.

“L-like a date?” Akihiko stuttered. “U-um sure! I don’t have anything on my schedule for tonight, so I’m good.”

“G-great! I’ll see you later tonight then?” she said, her voice sounding quite excited.

“I’ll be there by 8,” he reaffirmed her.

Mitsuru hummed and hung up shortly after. She handed Yukari her phone back, but as she did she gave the brunette’s hand a tight squeeze. “If this was a shadow nest, you’d be encased in a block of ice by now.”

Yukari simply nodded nervously before announcing her leave in a hurried fashion. Mitsuru got to work and started picking out the best dress she had in her wardrobe. Tonight just had to be perfect no matter what. After all, she was finally acting on something that she had been meaning to do for the past year, so it just had to be done right.

* * *

The doorbell rang at the Kirijo estate. Mitsuru was notified by her personnel that Akihiko was at the entrance. She told them to have him wait in the main hall and to accommodate him while she finished her last minute preparations. After a little bit Mitsuru greeted him as she met him in the main hall. She was impressed by the way he dressed, he didn’t have some overly revealing abs on full display like he had in the TV world, but she couldn’t lie to herself pretend like she hadn’t enjoyed sneaking in a peek or two.

No, instead he was dressed in an elegant red suit, with a black dress shirt underneath. She liked the colors, truly it was something only he could pull off in her opinion.

“S-someone looks rather well dressed, if I may be honest,” she started awkwardly.

Akihiko couldn’t help himself from looking at her. She was quite gorgeous in the black dress she was wearing and she didn’t seem shy about it considering that the top seemed to have a rather deep cut, while her back was fully exposed. 

“You look stunning, Mitsuru,” Akihiko admitted. 

Mitsuru felt her cheeks get hotter and hotter at his compliment. She wasn’t one to fall so easily to such compliments, but when they were from him she couldn’t resist. 

An awkward silence settled itself in between them. Akihiko tried not to stand around awkwardly for another second, offering his hand out to her. 

“Shall we get going?” he asked.

“Yes. Let’s,” Mitsuru took his hand and smiled. 

Akihiko guided her slowly to the dining hall. Sure it was Mitsuru’s home, but she wanted to give him the chance to play the lead for once. Truly she just wanted to test how much he remembered her old home before they moved into the dorms all those years ago. She watched as he confidently walked her to the table, pulling out her chair and seating her while holding her hand. He took a seat next to her and made himself comfortable.

The food that was prepared was something you’d never find in even some of the most expensive restaurants all over Port Island. Even so, they chatted amongst themselves, reminiscing about the old days as the first members of S.E.E.S. all the way to the present day. It was a calm night made up of small laughters between them. 

To Mitsuru it had almost felt like nothing had ever changed between them. That same trust from all years of friendship still stood strong right now. But she wanted to move past simple friends now, she wanted something more. She wondered if he felt the same. Sure they both knew that this was indeed a date, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up and assume otherwise. 

Meanwhile, Akihiko had his suspicions, but he too didn’t want to jump to conclusions. If he was honest with himself he had always found her attractive, but he appreciated how direct and forward she had been. Too many girls during his youth only wanted him for the shallowest of reasons, but Mitsuru was the first one to treat him like a normal person. And she always cared about him more than she would let on, at least he felt that way. So he had to wonder, why was he here with her now, alone in her home.

“You’re wondering why I invited you tonight aren’t you?” Mitsuru asked nervously.

“If I’m honest with you, yeah I am curious,” Akihiko admitted.

“Come with me, I want to show you something.”

Mitsuru rose from her seat and guided him along to the upper floors of the estate, they passed through various rooms until they finally reached her room. Akihiko made an audible gulp before she took his hand and guided him inside. She walked across her room through the window doors that led to the balcony. She opened them, letting in a small gentle nightly breeze as she stepped out, waiting for Akihiko to follow her. 

He finally stepped out with her and was met with the sight of a full moon. Back then a moon like this would have meant trouble, but right now he couldn’t get over how her skin glowed in the moonlight. She was completely irresistible, flat-out gorgeous to him. He could see her blush as he kept looking at her. 

“You know, it makes people uncomfortable if you stare for too long,” she said with rosy cheeks.

“Y-you’re right, I’m sorry, Mitsuru. It’s just I knew you were attractive but I’m completely floored right now.” he admitted his face finally changing into a warmer shade.

“You knew? So does that mean…” 

Before she could finish, she felt his lips connect with her own, sending eyes to flutter widely before she gave herself into the kiss. Their lips were both soft and warm, but it communicated intense feelings of longing. Feelings that were there since the very beginning, but neither of them had noticed it until now. By the time they pulled away, they were each too flustered to look at one another. 

“So what do we do now?” Mitsuru asked innocently.

“I don’t know, what does your heart tell you,” he asked with dreamy eyes.

“I think, it knows my answer, and it’s that I want to be with you, Akihiko,” she said softly. “I’m embarrassed it took me this long to realize it.”

“Don’t be, Mitsuru,” he reassured her. “I’ve felt the same for quite a while now. I shouldn’t have made you suffer for the past year.”

“You did nothing of the sort,” she retorted. Her lips were forming into a gentle smile. “Why don’t we continue this inside, it’s a little cold out here.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

She led him back inside where they exchanged lips again before arriving at her bed. They whispered quiet nothings before finally letting themselves go. Clothes fell to the ground as Akihiko laid her on her back and she pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his back. They were so lost in their tender moment that whatever else the night tried to bring, it would not matter because at last they had each other. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you want to leave a comment please do so! Constructive criticisms is also greatly appreciated so long it's that, constructive. 
> 
> I mentioned earlier how this originally part of another project, unfortunately that project was cancelled and well I had to post this eventually. No hard feelings tho, on the contrary it left me with 2 more additional pieces to share with you all! I hope you're excited as I'll slowly be releasing them over the week. Until the next one, see ya!


End file.
